What about Walter? (Photo Story)

Robyn is out of town visiting Deirdre and the new baby. She came prepared to fulfill her end of the bargain if it’s what Deirdre still wants to do or to provide support in any way she can.

How long will you stay up here…permanently? (Robyn)

No, I don’t think so. I’m still trying to figure things out. (Deirdre)

And you’re sure about what you told me on the phone? I promise to support whatever decision you make. I just want you to be certain. (Robyn)

Yes, I’m 110% sure. I lay awake at night while Alyssa sleeps trying to work out the details. Like I said, I’m still trying to figure things out, but I know in my heart that everything will be fine. It just has to be. (Deirdre)

And what about Walter? (Robyn)

What about him? He doesn’t know about Alyssa, nor does he need to. I mean he might know that I was pregnant since that goon snatched my bag at the bus station, but he doesn’t know that I’ve had the baby or that it’s his. He can’t… (Deirdre)

He’ll find out eventually, Dee. You know he will. Better to just confront him head on than to live in secret like some criminal, don’t you think? (Robyn)

I can’t bear the thought of him trying to use Alyssa to manipulate me. (Deirdre)

I understand, but now that you’ve decided to keep the baby… (Robyn)

Whose side are you on?! (Deirdre)

Don’t go there with me. You know I loathe that bastard more than anything, but I’m worried that this could go badly for you if he finds out about it the wrong way. (Robyn)

Well, you can stop worrying. (Deirdre) She busies herself with the baby.

Robyn senses that the matter is closed for now and decides to drop it for the sake of peace.

May I hold my goddaughter, please? (Robyn)

Of course. (Deirdre) She hands over the tiny bundle.

I think she looks like you. (Robyn)

The midwife said the same thing. I was so afraid throughout my pregnancy, you know. Not just that Walter would find me or hurt me but that the baby would be a painful reminder of what he did to me. But when she placed her in my arms and I looked into her angelic face, all the fear and pain melted away. Alyssa restored my faith that I could love again. I've never loved anyone or anything as much as I love her. (Deirdre)

Little Alyssa Rose (Robyn, softly to the baby)

Meanwhile in Dollton, Walter is in bed when he gets a text from Sean. Knowing that Robyn was his best shot at tracking down Deidre, he’s had him keeping tabs on her for months. He reads the text and learns that Robyn just paid a personal visit to a friend out of town and that she made a stop at a baby boutique outside of the city on her way. His heart leaps.

Hey, you. (Rebecca)

It's time for you to go. (Walter)

Oh, are you going in to work? (Rebecca)

No. Get dressed. You can show yourself out. (Walter)

Walter leaves the room to call Sean. Sean answers right away, and they talk for a few minutes.

Should I bring her to you? (Sean, on the phone)

No, send me the address. (Walter)

Thanks for reading!

Style for Every Size

The annual Pink Friday sale is in full swing at Chandra's dress boutique. Everything in the store is 30% off. The boutique caters to women of various shapes and sizes, and stocks a variety of styles from day dresses to ball gowns.

Khadijah and Lily check out the less formal dresses.

Lavinia looks for a dress to wear to a New Year's Eve party.

She finds something she likes and heads to the fitting room.

Dena and Valencia arrive.

Karalyn, who can't resist a sale, leaves with her purchase in tow.

Valencia tries to convince her mom to try a wrap dress, and Chandra makes a suggestion.

Dena agrees to try this purple striped number (suggested by Chandra).

Khadijah asks Lily her opinion about which dress to wear to a wedding.

Dorothy Jean has a question about a dress.

Khadijah in a blue tank dress from KUKLAfashion

Khadijah in a yellow sheath dress from Van's Doll Treasures

Lavinia in a party dress from sinogem (no longer on Etsy)

Dena in a purple and black wrap dress from Van's Doll Treasures

*Lavinia's skirt and top are from Bonishop. FREE shipping on all orders.
*Dena's sweater and pants are also from Van's Doll Treasures. Vanessa makes lovely fashions for the Big Beautiful Dolls. I can't say enough good things about them.
*Khadijah's pants were a gift with my purchase from KUKLAfashion. I love it when sellers send little extras like that (like those adorable bracelets that AtelierniShasha sends for example). It's a neat way to show they appreciate my business and keeps me coming back again and again.

Stay tuned, because there will be a special "curvy" giveaway this holiday season ;)

A Curvy Comparison

Like many collectors, I was thrilled to see Mattel introduce diverse body types this year. I bought and then introduced my first curvy fashionista months ago in this post. Then I was even more excited to learn that we would get an articulated curvy doll as the second release in Carlyle Nuera's Harlem Theater collection. Madame Lavinia moved to Dollton in mid October shortly after her release date. If you're wondering how she compares to the curvy fashionistas, then read on. Doll nudity follows. Consider yourself warned.

In the picture below, you can see that Lavinia (in yellow & black) looks taller than Elon (in blue). Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. Lavinia is in fact 11.5 inches tall, whereas Elon is only 11 inches tall. Both dolls are wearing fashions that came with Elon. Notice that while Lavinia can wear Elon's clothes, she fills them out differently.

With the clothing removed, you can see why. Elon is pear-shaped, whereas Lavinia has an hour glass figure. Elon's measurements are 5.25 inches bust, 4.25 inches waist, and 6 inches hips. Lavinia's measurements are 5.75 inches bust, 4.375 inches waist , and 6 inches hips. From a business standpoint, I understand Mattel's decision to give the curvy fashionistas a smaller bust. It allows them to share tops with regular fashionistas. Still, I prefer Lavinia's proportions to Elon's.

Here is a profile shot of the ladies. Elon has a more shapely derriere (aka a little more junk in the trunk), yet their hip measurements are the same at their widest points.

A shot of the dolls lying down better illustrates the differences in their legs. Lavinia's are longer and slimmer in the thigh area.

This pic is to illustrate the difference in their foot sizes. Lavinia has a higher arch, but a generally smaller foot. However, her feet are wider than regular Barbie feet at the toes. These ladies can share some clothes, but not shoes.

Here's Lavinia in a recent Barbie fashion and some shoes I had on hand. So long for now.

"Let yourself fall in love with something that simply makes you happy. If there's a place for it in your heart, there's a place for it in your home." ~collector Mary Randolph Carter

What the Flock!

Long time no write, right? I’ve been spinning my wheels trying to decide whether to introduce the new story line I promised, move forward with Lena’s story, or update y’all on Tony & Brandy’s wedding and Walter & Deirdre’s saga. The first two options were on hold until I found some key characters that were missing. I am happy to announce that all major players have been found…but more on that later. The updates will follow soon.

Now, on to the subject of this post. I recently decided to dabble more in customizing my dolls. I usually avoid such ventures because I’m a perfectionist with tendencies toward OCD, and mistakes (which are inevitable) make the whole experience nerve-wracking. Kudos to those of you who regularly repaint, reroot, and flock your dolls. I tip my hat to you.

I have to say though that of all the customizations I’ve considered, flocking is probably the easiest and least stressful. There are plenty of tutorials online. Mistakes are easy to correct. And the change is always dramatic. The best advice I received was to take my time. You will find a great tutorial at this link if you need one: How to flock your doll

Here is Desi with her new do. I bought Desi (Dynamite Girl workshop doll) earlier this year after I fell in love with her face. I ordered a wig for her, but found I liked her better without lots of hair. I love dolls with short hair. I’d wear my own hair shorter if my husband wasn’t always reminding me that he prefers it long. And with a face this pretty, she can totally pull off a super short do. I decided to look for flocking in the same shade that her scalp was painted. I found some on restoredoll.com. The shade I bought is called Coco. Since there was no hair to remove, creating Desi’s new do was a simple task. I love how it turned out. Her hair line is a smidge uneven in this pic, but I have since corrected it. :)

Here’s a before shot in case you don’t remember how she looked when I bought her.

The next transformation was actually my first. I practiced on this doll since she was much less expensive. I wasn’t crazy about the combination of pink hair and red lipstick on my LA Girl Fashionista, so I sent her off to Cyano Reroots for a partial reroot. I thought black would make an edgy alternative, but then the black hair made her blonde flocking look off to my eye. I removed her factory flocking and replaced it with black. I rooted her eye lashes during one of our doll club meetings when Georgia Girl gave an eye lash workshop. I couldn’t find a small enough stud for a lip piercing, so she got a nose ring instead. I somehow messed up her lashes on one side when I was repositioning her nose ring. I’m debating removing her head to reroot that side…ugh! Did I already mention my OCD? She’s getting tattoos before the week is out.

And last but not least, check out Victor’s fresh new cut. I tried to cope with his unfortunate factory hair, but I finally couldn’t take it anymore. Plus, now he looks more like Judah (the character from Vita Plastica’s blog) that sparked my obsession with finding and owning this doll in the first place. I sent Dani an email asking for tips before I started. She was kind enough to respond with some helpful pointers. This guy was the hardest to do, because I had to remove his rooted hair, which was a Herculean task. Okay, maybe not that bad, but I have very little patience for that sort of thing. He’s had two thin coats of flocking. One more should do the trick. Looks like he's putting the moves on the new gal. More on that later ;)

Two curvy doll posts coming up...this week, hopefully. See you soon.

Etsy Treats

Happy Halloween!

No tricks, just sharing some treats that I recently bought. Items crafted by a seller I hadn't hear of, DollyDelectables, came up in my list of Etsy picks one day, so I decided to check 'em out. What I found were some great, reasonably priced miniature food items. Here are some quick pics to show you what I bought.

I bought the large vegetable tray below. It came with several loose pieces, like the celery stick in Grace's hand. Camille recently decided to start a book club. Here she is with her sister Grace, best friend Amber, and new neighbor Chandra at their first meeting.

Miniature books by Hey, it's Muff- Love them!

Here's the baked mac 'n cheese that Camille made for Sunday dinner. It also came with six individual servings and a lidded bowl to store them in...petite and practical.

Millicent wants a traditional holiday dinner this year, so I ordered this cornbread platter and bowl of candied yams. She says if any of you know where she can get some 1:6 scale collard greens, to please let us know.

And she was sweet enough to show off the beef kabobs, too. There's a new Barbie grill coming out soon, and my guys can't wait. It's NOT pink.

And quite possibly my favorite treat of all is this sheath dress from AtelierniShasha. When I ordered this OOAK dress for Poppy Parker, I didn't even own a Poppy Parker. Well, I do now! Check her out in Shasha's gorgeous dress. Her name is Portia.

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by!

Coming soon...
A Curvy Comparison (Madam Lavinia & Curvy Fashionista)
A Review of Curvy Fashions from Etsy Sellers
More New Dolls

Road Trip to Jacksonville, FL for Barbie Sales Room

Several members of my doll club (Atlanta Doll Collectors) and I headed down to Jacksonville, FL for the mother of all Barbie bazaars- the convention sales room! Five Barbie-loving divas and two precious 8-year-olds hit the road for a weekend trip.

On the way to our hotel, we stopped at a couple of Walmart stores. In the past week several club members have found some amazing clearance deals, like AA Made to Move dolls as low as $3.50 and Fashionistas for $5. I bought the items pictured below: AA Girl Scout for $5, Skipper and vanity set for $13, and a new fashion pack. I currently have all the Fashionistas I want, but a few of my dolleagues picked up petite doll #25 Blue Brocade for $5.

The MC squared dolls were on rollback (sort of) for under $10, so my eldest daughter and her road buddy got these.

Beauty AND Brains

When we arrived at our hotel, several travel dolls were dressed for the pool as shown below.

My rerooted Carol Ferris doll is looking pretty poolside.

Mara's Summer doll is the lifeguard on duty.

On Saturday we shopped 'till we dropped, staying in the sales room from open to close (10:00-3:00). Here is a group photo of several club members and me with Mattel designers Carlyle Nuera and Bill Greening. Some bystander got suckered into taking this blurry pic...sorry.

Speaking of Carlyle, here is a sneak peek of the next doll in the Harlem Theater collection. He will make many collectors happy with this one. The photo is courtesy of one of my traveling companions. She is curvy, fully articulated, and GORGEOUS... a total must-have for me.

Madame Lavinia

And now here's our haul:

-souvenir candy jars for my daughters and me

The middle one reads, "Keep Calm and Buy a Barbie."

-fashions, accessories, and miniatures

Nicolette models the boxed fashion above.

-furniture and two new dolls

BB 2.5 has been on my wishlist for over a year!

My ladies try out the sofa that will go in the VIP lounge of Robyn's club.

Weary from our shopping exertions, we hit the beach for some R&R. Here are some pics of the Davis family on vacation.

Grace and Darren take a stroll.

Building a sand castle with Dad

We know what that look means...

That's all folks...thanks for stopping by!